We’re getting what we deserve

Matt Pearl

A friend of mine jokingly suggested to me the other day that in this week’s column I should tell her who deserves her vote in the upcoming presidential election. I laughed, and so did she. But here’s the truth:

Nobody has earned your vote as far as I can see, so I guess you just better pick somebody.

If your strategy is not Hillary, then you’re going to have to take an antacid tablet or two and vote for Trump. He’s not conservative, he’s not polished, and he’s not that nice, but I guess he’s also not Hillary Clinton — and that’s all a lot of voters are seeking.

The same principle applies in reverse to Donald Trump: if your hope is for whomever is not Donald, then you’re stuck with the more establishment-endorsed flip-flopper, Madame Secretary herself.

There’s the Libertarian, Gary Johnson, but America still isn’t ready for a third party candidate.

Johnson would keep liberals happy on marijuana and abortion, and would please conservatives on economics, but the Libertarian ultra-conservative platform would step on everyone’s toes in our modern political climate.

So there you go, America. This election makes it look like Obama-McCain/Romney gave us some quality choices.

But America won’t focus on the issues that belong to its politicians, so we really deserve this.

We have, of late, called upon our political leaders to make moral and ethical rulings on everything from who our citizens may marry to which bathroom we may appropriately use.

If you and I have allowed the political discourse to take our chief concerns to gender assignments in public bathrooms, then we have officially allowed our political leaders to distract us from the matters that deserve much more of our attention.

No one has a plan to fix the economy — the best plans you’ll hear from the mainstream politicians have us increasing the national debt at a rate that equals or surpasses today’s ridiculous deficit spending-fueled indebtedness.

Your leaders don’t know how to make more money or spend less to balance our national budget, but you and I want them to tell Target how to rule on restroom gender assignments.

I think it’s safe to say we deserve this.

We’re not going to get presidents cut from the cloth of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, or Kennedy as long as we keep narrowing the field to folks like Trump and Hillary.

America is like the smartest, prettiest girl at the dance who inexplicably goes home with an abusive loser. We have so much to offer, and we’re always attracted to the wrong sort of partner.

We should expect more from ourselves. Who gave you and me these choices? We’re the buyer, aren’t we? If you go to buy a car and the dealer only has two overpriced clunkers in stock, does that mean you have to buy one of them?

It’s time for us to believe that we deserve better.

A pompous, sharp-tongued public celebrity is a poor choice for a leader of the United States of America.

A scandal-prone career politician who routinely speaks in political double-talk to deflect criticism and, perhaps, indictment, is an equally poor choice.

So, America, you’re going to have to settle for Clinton or Trump, it would appear. It’s too late now, but in 2020 your vote doesn’t need to be a meaningless expression in the process of choosing between two inept egomaniacs. The key is to start thinking ahead. Expect more from your leaders. Do not settle for those who represent corruption and despair. It’s your country.